


Hardest to Love (1987)

by floatingdreams



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23535895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floatingdreams/pseuds/floatingdreams
Summary: Mike and El’s relationship has continued to flourish since they met that night in the rain. As days turned to months and eventually bled into years, the two had become masters of memorizing one another’s features. One stormy night when the couple was cuddled up, Mike recognized a wrinkly mark upon his lover’s skin...Otherwise known as, Mike identifies one of El’s scars from the lab. A little bit of hurt, but a whole lot of fluff and comfort...((disclosure: this does mildly mention abuse in the lab. It also has brief mention of blood. None of which go into extremely grand detail, but please read with caution.))
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper & Mike Wheeler, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 5
Kudos: 43





	Hardest to Love (1987)

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to the lovely CindyA for requesting this!
> 
> disclosure: this does mildly mention abuse in the lab. It also has brief mention of blood. None of which go into extremely grand detail, but please read with caution.

***********

The crack of thunder and hum of synchronized breaths being shared were the only sounds to be heard in the Wheeler’s basement. Mike and El were seeking refuge from the storm within the fort that they were unable to admit having grown out of. So, there they were, a heap of scattered limbs that stuck out from beneath the framework sheets.

As always, Mike had his hands roaming comfortably across the heavenly landscape of soft skin that El graciously offered. The more time they spent together, the more intimate their bond became. One of his favorite things to do included running his lengthy fingers through her hair as she tended to release sweet content sighs in response to his actions. Her happy coos composed his favorite symphony and kept him yearning to hear more. He could practically feel her sounds vibrating within his chest as her head laid pressed to his heart.

He became lost in silently praising her until he noticed something he had never gotten a chance to ask her about before. Taking his thumb, he gently caressed against an indented marking that graced the lower left side of her neck. El looked upward at him at this time and took note of the way his eyebrows were now furrowed in characteristic concern.

El traced her fingers along the lines of his forehead as she curiously asked, “what’s on your mind?”

He startled slightly at her sudden voice, but continued onward with memorizing the mark on her skin. Mike’s eyes landed on her’s for a moment before he questioned, “I’ve never asked you about this scar. What happened?”

There was a thick pause that filled the air. Mike recognized the way her eyes skirted down and he could swear he had visibly witnessed a lump in her throat form. Before she could get too lost in her thoughts, he placed his palm against her cheek and redirected the golden brown haze of her irises back to him. 

“We don’t have to talk about it. I just felt bad that I had never asked,” Mike carefully explained.

El shook her head and wiggled closer to him as she bluntly confirmed his suspicions, “it’s from the lab.”

The air in his lungs seemed the condense and caused a rattling sensation within his ribcage. It never got easier for him; remembering that his soulmate was once tethered to unimaginable terrors. The digits on her wrist that he kissed sweetly each waking day was just one of the many declarations of abuse that remained on her canvas. He was then haunted by the realization that he would likely find more scars each summer that rolled around as the expanse of her skin would be more on display. 

Sensing his unease, El bumped her nose with his as she expressed, “I know it’s hard for you to hear, we don’t have to talk about it—“

“W-wait,” Mike stuttered forward, stopping briefly to press a kiss in her favorite spot behind her ear before he started to ramble, “yes, it’s hard. It hurts me to hear about how you were treated, but it’s important for me to know so I can be aware. We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I want to hear everything about you. I want to hear about the good things; like which songs are your favorites. But I also want to hear the things that hurt, so I can be there for you.”

As soon as Mike finished talking, a dark blush coated his cheeks as he reflected on his sappy declaration. However, just as soon as the blood had rushed to his face, he quickly felt it drain as several tear drops landed on his hand. He drank in the sight of her scrunched up face; and even while she cried, he couldn’t help but recognize the beauty she withheld. He snapped into reacting rapidly as he cradled her face in his hands. He laid kisses on her cheeks and did not cease his motions until he heard her gracious giggle.

El soon sniffled, “you’re amazing, you know that?” she dreamily gazed up at him for a moment and brought his hand to rest on her cool skin. She felt relief as his thumb rested along the curve of the scar that was pressed firmly into her neck. She took a deep breath before stating, “pap—Brenner, he didn’t like it when I refused tasks. And one time, he asked me to hurt this boy. He couldn’t have been much younger than me, and he wasn’t listening to what he had been told to do” she grabbed Mike’s free hand and squeezed it as she revealed, “when I refused to hurt him, the men that worked for Brenner took me to room. This was the first time one of the new workers ever put me back into my prison. All of the other workers knew never to hurt me since I was their prized possession,” she harshly shut her eyes and repressed the visuals as she struggled, “the worker didn’t know he couldn’t harm me, so in retaliation to my kicks, he took out a knife and pressed it against my throat. One of the normal guards alerted everyone of the situation. I thought there was a lot of blood from the gash he made, but I understood what a pool of blood looked like when Brenner pulled the trigger on him.”

As El explained her trauma, Mike felt a chill ache within every chamber of his heart. As much as her joy was his; her pain was his as well. And anything she harbored within her, he swore to bare the burden of that hurt. It wasn’t an inconvenience to him, rather a promise he proudly swore to maintain.

She allowed her tears to roll freely from her eyes as she continued, “I remember Brenner telling me to look away as I screamed. He told me he would make it better, so he allowed me to have my stuffed animal as the workers disposed of the body. And I just sat there pressing my stuffed animal into the wound the man had left on me to help stop the bleeding,” her voice quivered as she finalized, “every time after that, when I would clutch onto that stuffed cat, I would think about it being my source of comfort. It’s silly, but I really thought of that toy as my protector during all of that.”

After El had finished recounting her horrors, she was met with cold silence. She felt as if she had said too much, so she scooted back out of her’s lovers embrace as she mumbled, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—“

Mike immediately awoke from his temporary state of shock and pulled her in closer as he began leaving fleeting kisses along her face. His lips rid her cheeks of the tears she had spilled and eventually trailed down to every inch of skin surrounding her scar. When he finally reached the shiny mark, he left a lingering kiss there as he murmured, “I’m so sorry that happened, love. You shouldn’t have ever experienced the things you did. You’re the best person I know; the best person I’ll ever know, and I’m not saying that because I love you, I say it because I know it’s true. Your heart is the most beautiful thing that has ever existed in this world,” he paused before leaning his forehead against her’s as he confessed, “loving you is the greatest thing I will ever do in my lifetime, and I’m going to spend my life making sure nothing ever happens to you again, I promise.”

A whimpering cry cracked from Mike’s throat as he pulled back and evaluated El’s precious form. When he looked at every inch of her, alls he could see was an immaculate masterpiece. She had her scars and inevitably her flaws, but all of those things were what made her his heart’s keeper; his one and only love.

“I don’t want to burden you with all of this stuff though. I have so much hurt that follows me,” El wrapped her arms around her torso as she sobbed, “I don’t want to you to be tied to some freak with an unforgettable past.”

A harsh tugging sensation ripped through Mike’s core, almost like her words were a sharp butcher knife gliding right into his abdomen. He wouldn’t stand to let anyone talk badly about her; not even herself. He understood that her trauma made her feel like a ticking time bomb, but he would continually remind her that he would rather explode and continue living life by her side than with anyone else. There isn’t much to be certain about in life, but Mike knew he was made to love her.

He gently removed her arms from around her middle and brought her hands up to his heart. He patiently waited until her mesmerizing orbs met his once more before he stated, “my heart will only ever beat for you. I know you have endured experiences that you should’ve never had to deal with, but I promise you, there’s nothing in this world that can ever stop me from loving you, El.”

Mike watched as her delicate features crumbled inward, like her emotions were pulling her in an unbearable amount of different directions. Feeling hopeless and in need of distracting her, he followed the first idea that came to his mind.

El’s pale cheeks ignited to a beautiful blossoming shade of pink as she watched her boyfriend remove his shirt. Her lips parted in a combination of awe and confusion as he grabbed her hand again. She curiously watched his actions as he guided her hand to rest on the right side of his ribcage, just a few inches off from his naval where a small squiggly dot indented his soft skin.

Before she could question, Mike rambled, “you already know how I got the scar on my chin, so I thought I would tell you about this one. It’s dumb, but,” he huffed, releasing his anxieties as he revealed, “during those three hundred and fifty three days that I didn’t know where you were, I had trouble sleeping. I used to stay up late trying to work on how I could bring the mage back in the campaign stories since I couldn’t find you in real life, and I guess exhaustion ended up winning one night because I fell asleep. I rolled over and somehow landed on my pencil the wrong way,” he shook his head, chuckling at himself quietly as he added, “I had to wake up Nancy to pull the pencil out. I thought it would eventually go away, but here we are now, and it’s still there,” he felt his cheeks turn red in embarrassment as he finished, “I just wanted to let you know everyone has scars. You shouldn’t feel ashamed of how many you have or how you got them.”

Mike shut his eyes tightly as soon as he finished. He felt like he had just made things weird by rambling about his stupidity. Yet, his eyes comically sprung back open a moment later when his favorite set of soft lips adorned the canvas of his abdomen. After she had placed a healing kiss to his scar, she came back up and pressed her forehead into his. She wasted no time in capturing his lips in a breathtaking manner.

When El pulled back from his mouth, she pressed her forehead into his as she murmured, “I’m so lucky to be loved by you, and I’m even luckier because I get to love every part of you.”

A dopey grin plastered onto Mike’s face as he asked, “does this mean I didn’t ruin anything by telling you I accidentally stabbed myself with a pencil when I was asleep?”

The giggle that escaped El made a swarm of butterflies awaken within Mike’s gut. He swore his body could actually float away from the effects of being so close to this ethereal being. His attention narrowed on her lips as she spoke, “you could never do anything to make me stop loving you,” she playfully rubbed the tip of her nose on his cheek as she quietly added, “thank you for loving me for who I am.”

Mike pecked her lips and assured, “your scars and your past don’t define you. They’re just apart of the person I love.”

After this, the two of them cuddled up closer than before as the storm continued to rage outside. El hooked her left leg around both of Mike’s as they plastered their torsos together. Eventually the lightning faded out as the rain played on. The sounds of the soft drops hitting the windowpane and the feel of El’s warm body were just beginning to lull him off to sleep when her voice brought him back.

“Promise me that whatever happens, you’ll continue writing. Your stories deserve to be read by the world,” she tiredly murmured into the crook of his neck.

Mike’s heart swelled at her continual belief in him. He leaned down and kissed the crown of her head as he promised, “I’m going to write a book about how we met and all of our experiences. It’ll include the good and the bad. And I don’t care who reads it, it’ll just be a story for you and I.”

El contently snuggled further into his skin and smiled sweetly as she fell asleep. Mike protectively watched her dream as his nimble fingers caressed that scar on her neck. He kissed it as light as a feather, and watched as her smile unconsciously grew.

He soon followed after her and had dreams of their future. Both of them envisioned a life where they accepted each other fully, and all’s that could be seen within that dream were bright flourishing colors. They subconsciously pulled each other closer, hands continuing to roam as if they couldn’t believe the other was more than just a figment from a beautifully imaginative dream.

The following day when they woke and looked into one another’s eyes, Mike and El fell further into love. As they spent their life together, they recognized that they’d continue to find old scars while making new ones. Both of their sets of skin would present new markings as they grew old together. 

At the end of the day, not a single mark, flaw, or event could deprive Mike and El of loving one another. Storms came and went, but their love always prevailed.

***********

**Author's Note:**

> As always, feel free to leave comments and requests! I’m available to talk to about anything @ eggohopper on Instagram.
> 
> Sending hugs!  
> -Mel <3


End file.
